CES News

New Funding Proposals for US Department of Education Title VI Grant and European Union Center of Excellence Grant

The Center for European Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill will be applying for two major grants this spring. First, we will be applying for funding to be designated as a National Resource Center by the US Department of Education for 2014-18. Second, we will be applying to be designated as a European Union Center of Excellence by the European Union for 2014-17. We invite all UNC faculty and graduate students with a primary focus on European studies to submit proposals for research working groups, research projects, or other research or teaching projects directly related to contemporary Europe, the EU, or transatlantic studies. All proposals must be submitted electronically (preferably from a UNC email account to avoid the spam filter) to europe@unc.edu. A CES committee will consider which projects best fit the grant proposal and the appropriate level of funding.

In your funding proposal, please include:

Title and explanation of the project

Why the project is relevant to contemporary Europe, the EU, or transatlantic studies

If your proposal is for an on-going project funded in the current grant cycles, please explain “added value,” i.e. what will be new about the next wave?

Names and departments of faculty involved (key faculty), including European faculty names and institutions if there are any

How the project involve students

A 4-year (Title VI) or 3-year (EUCE) detailed budget broken down by year

All inquiries regarding the application process should be directed to europe@unc.edu.

Application deadline: January 31, 2014

European Union Center of Excellence Summer Research Fellowship

CES will offer two awards to UNC-CH graduate students to conduct pre-dissertation research on the EU or on a comparative European topic (i.e. involving more than one European country) in Europe during summer 2014. Awards will be in the amount of €3000.

Proposals should include a completed application form, a five-page (max) synopsis of the research project with a timetable, and a letter of support from the dissertation advisor or another professor. Click here to apply.

The TransAtlantic Masters Program (TAM) has trained graduate students interested in contemporary Europe and the transatlantic relationship since 1998. Offered by way of partnerships between world-renowned universities in the United States and Europe, TAM is a unique and intensive MA-degree program based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our European partner institutions are located in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK. TAM applicants have usually majored in a relevant subject area such as Political Science, History, International Relations, European Studies, or Economics. Successful applicants have often studied abroad and/or interned or worked in an international setting.

TAM students benefit from small classes taught by world-renown experts. Courses begin each August on the UNC campus, focusing on comparative politics of industrial societies, comparative social policy, democratization, the European Union, and multilevel governance. TAM graduates pursue international careers in administration, diplomacy, business, policy-making, consulting, teaching, and research.setting.

Spring 2014 LAC Courses

The following LAC course options will be offered during the spring semester. For course times and information on the types of different LAC options and the recommended minimum proficiency level, visit the LAC for Undergraduates page. To enroll, email the LAC Coordinator.

Swahili combined discussion section open to students in AAAD 101, ANTH 319, and PUBH 420

Spanish recitation for ENST 201: Introduction to Environment and Society

Spanish recitation for HIST 143: Latin America Since Independence

Spanish seminar: BUSI 490 sec 014: Megaprojects in Latin America

Teaching LAC: GLBL 789*

*This LAC pedagogy course is designed for graduate and professional students who are interested in teaching interdisciplinary and internationally-focused courses in languages other than English. GLBL 789 is required for all students pursuing the Graduate Certificate in LAC Instruction. It is currently scheduled for Mondays, 4:00 – 7:00 pm | FedEx Global Education Center 3033. For more information, email LAC Coordinator Tanya Kinsella.

Upcoming Speaker Series

"Look, But Don't Touch": American Women as Military Entertainment

Kara Dixon Vuic will be speaking in conjunction with the Duke-UNC Gender, War, and Culture Series. In every twentieth-century war the U.S. military sent women entertainers to warzones. They opened canteens where soldiers could find a friendly face, performed on stage, played games and engaged in conversation, and brought a momentary reprieve from the war to the battlefield. This presentation examines the history of these programs, the military’s intentions for the women, and the meanings women ascribed to their work. It reveals the ways that feminine sexuality formed a central part of the state’s efforts to maintain an effective fighting force, construct martial masculinity, mobilize homefront support, and export American culture to foreign countries.

"Gateway to Freedom" in West Germany? The Friedland Refugee Youth Camp as Regulating Humanitarianism, 1947-1951

In the fall of 1945, the British Military Government ordered the establishment of a transit camp in the town of Friedland to help the local region cope with the refugee masses crossing the nearby zonal boundaries. Although the camp soon gained the reputation as the “Gateway to Freedom” for millions of German expellees, refugees, and prisoners of war entering West Germany from Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe, the camp’s regulatory regime meant that acceptance and resettlement in West Germany was more difficult than the famous moniker indicated. Taking Friedland’s sub-camp for vagrant male youths as an example, this presentation demonstrates how the camp’s dual regulatory and humanitarian mission affected key issues of family reunification, recognition of refugee status, and resettlement. Presented by Derek Holmgren, doctoral candidate in the Department of History at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Graduate Speaker Series Opportunity

The LGBTQ Center at UNC-Chapel Hill is sponsoring this speaker series to share the work of graduate and professional students conducting research related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Events are open to the UNC community and all are invited to attend. Refreshments will be served but feel free to bring your own lunch. This series is being co-sponsored by the Graduate & Professional Student Federation, The Graduate School, and the Program in Sexuality Studies.

If you are a graduate or professional student conducting LGBTQ-related research and are interested in presenting as part of this series in the 2013-14 school year, please email carucci@email.unc.edu.­­

Study or Research in Europe

2014 EU Studies Summer Program in Brussels

The European Union Centers of Excellence at the University of Washington and University of Wisconsin are pleased to announce the 2014 EU Studies Summer Program in Brussels, hosted and co-organized by the Institute for European Studies at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). This program is supported by grant funds from the European Commission. Students will be awarded 12 UW quarter credits upon successful completion of the program. This five-week program will run from July 7 to August 8, 2014. Application forms and info available at: http://jsis.washington.edu/euc/brussels.

Application deadline: February 7, 2014

The Boren Awards for International Study

The applications for the 2014-15 David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are now available at borenawards.org. Boren Awards provide unique funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study in Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East, where they can add important international and language components to their educations.

Boren Scholars and Fellows represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying less commonly taught languages.

Application deadline: January 28, 2014

Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences (BGSS) at Humboldt University

The Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences (BGSS) is calling for applications to its International Doctoral Program starting in October 2014. BGSS is also calling for the European PhD in Socio-Economic and Statistical Studies, an international, interdisciplinary graduate program cooperating with seven European partner universities, and also for the European Doctoral Program, "Europe in its Global Context," an international doctoral program in the social sciences in cooperation with the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane and four associated universities in Hungary, Turkey, Israel, and Tunisia. For more information about these three programs, consult the call for applications and visit the BGSS website.

Application Deadline: December 22, 2013

London School of Economics and Political Science

MPhil/PhD in European Studies Admissions for the MPhil/PhD program in European Studies at the LSE's European Institute for 2014-15 entry opened on October 14. Applicants wishing to be considered for financial awards or scholarships are highly encouraged to apply as early as possible. The available financial awards/scholarships that applicants may be eligible for include: LSE PhD scholarship, ESRC and AHRC. In addition, for the first time for the 2014-15 entry, a new Hellenic Observatory 4-year PhD scholarship on contemporary Greece is available. The MPhil/PhD in European Studies welcomes applications for multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research on Europe in the following areas:

Conferences, Workshops, and Calls for Papers

Conference on Childhood Studies

The Finnish Society for Childhood Studies invites submissions for proposals for an international conference to be held in Oulu May 7–9, 2014. The multidisciplinary conference on childhood studies has established itself as the venue for research on children and childhood in Finland. Sessions will be arranged either in English or in Finnish. A proposal can be submitted for:

Individual paper presentation: 20–30 minutes including discussion

Self-organised sessions: groups may propose to organize a full session of 90 minutes including presentations (3–4 individual papers and discussion, or round table discussion)

Poster presentation: sessions will be set up for conference participants to interact with poster presenters

Europe: East & West Undergraduate Research Symposium

Modeled after traditional academic conferences, this event will give students the opportunity to present their research papers on Western and Eastern Europe, including Russia and other countries of the former USSR, to discussants and an audience. Please encourage your outstanding undergraduate students to apply to participate in the symposium. The application form and further information can be found at http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/ursymposium.

If you have any questions, please contact Gina Peirce, Assistant Director, Center for Russian and East European Studies at gbpeirce@pitt.edu.

Covering all aspects of contemporary European Studies, both panel and paper proposals from across academic disciplines including law, economics, geography, history, sociology, public policy and politics are accepted. For more information on guidelines or how to submit a proposal, please use the UACES website.

The 2014 SPERI conference seeks to take discussion of the political economy of the crisis beyond its British and European contexts to focus centrally on the dynamics and patterns of the distribution of growth and development across the entire global political economy. One view presumes that the contemporary economic and financial crisis is an appropriate lens through which to consider the global political economy and all of its constituent parts, placing emphasis on the integrated nature of global capitalism and the ‘global imbalances’ that draw all regions and countries into a measure of responsibility for the structural roots of crisis and recession. An alternative view argues that the implications of the crisis have been much more uneven and localized, mediated by differing types of political economy, growth models and development strategies. Meanwhile, the uncertainty surrounding the changing roles of the ‘rising powers’ or ‘BRICS’ economies, the continual flux and increasing ambiguity of categories such as ‘low-income’ and ‘middle-income’ countries, and signs of a weakening of the hold of established ‘orthodox’ ideologies of development all suggest that fresh thinking is needed about the nature of future growth and development in all parts of the global political economy, whether conventionally regarded as ‘developed’ or ‘developing.’ For more information about the conference, consult the call for papers and visit the SPERI website. Please send abstracts (of no more than a page in length) of proposed papers/panels to Sarah Boswell by emailing speri@sheffield.ac.uk.

Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2014

Fellowships, Awards and Job Opportunities

Learn about EURAXESS

EURAXESS is a networking tool for European and non-European researchers based in North America wishing to pursue a short or longer research stay in Europe. It provides information about research in Europe, European research policy, free job/fellowship publishing, opportunities for research funding, for international collaboration and for trans-national mobility. Membership is free. To join the community or to find out more about the opportunities for North Americans, register at EURAXESS Links North America or email northamerica@euraxess.net. Visit the EURAXESS website to learn more.

Max Planck Institute Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies invites suitable candidates to apply for up to four postdoctoral fellowships in economic sociology and political economy. Applicants must hold a PhD degree in political science, sociology, organization studies or related fields. Degrees must be received by August 2014 at the latest. Fellowships will usually start on October 1, and will be awarded for one year.

For more information see announcement on the MPIfG website, where the application form can be downloaded.

Application deadline: January 31, 2014

2014 EUSA Haas Fund Fellowship Competition

The 2013-15 EUSA Executive Committee is pleased to announce the 2014 EUSA Haas Fund Fellowship Competition, an annual fellowship for graduate student EU-related dissertation research. Thanks entirely to contributions to the EUSA Ernst Haas Memorial Fund for EU Studies, launched in June 2003 to honor the memory of the late scholar Ernst B. Haas (1924-2003), the organization will offer one or more unrestricted fellowship of at least $1,500 to support the dissertation research of any graduate student pursuing an EU-related dissertation topic in the academic year 2013-14. Please note the following stipulations for applicants, who must:

be pursuing the doctoral degree (PhD) at an accredited institution in any country;

be writing a dissertation in English;

have an EU-related, doctoral dissertation topic approved by the professor who will supervise it; and,

be able to demonstrate clearly the relevance to EU studies of the dissertation topic.

Applicants for the fellowship should submit a one-page proposal of the project that specifies its relevance to EU Studies and describes how the fellowship would be used, a CV, and two letters of support to be sent directly to EUSA. The letters should be from professors serving on the student’s dissertation committee, and one should be the chair. Applicants should send their material to eusa@pitt.edu using the subject “2014 E.B. Haas Fund Fellowship competition.”

Application deadline: January 3, 2014

2013-14 Fulbright Specialist Program Cycle IIIB Deadline

The Fulbright Specialist Program (FSP) promotes linkages between U.S. scholars and professionals and their counterparts at host institutions overseas. The program awards grants to qualified U.S. faculty and professionals, in select disciplines, to engage in short-term collaborative two- to six-week projects at eligible institutions in over 140 countries worldwide. Shorter grant lengths give Specialists greater flexibility to pursue projects that work best with their current academic or professional commitments.

Application deadline: December 23, 2013

Fulbright Program Manager & Education USA Adviser

The Commission for Educational Exchange between the US, Belgium and Luxembourg is a Fulbright Commission and Education USA center that advises international students about higher education in the U.S. and administers merit-based grants for graduate study (Master’s or PhD), post-doctoral research or university lecturing in the U.S. for citizens of Belgium (www.fulbright.be) and the EU (www.fulbrightschuman.eu). To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Erica Lutes at fulbright@kbr.be. Candidates selected to move to the next round will be notified of their success within two weeks and interviewed by March 1. Skype interviews will be permitted for candidates applying from outside of Belgium.

Application deadline: January 31, 2014

Assistant Professorships in European Global Studies at the University of Basel

The Institute for European Global Studies is an interdisciplinary research institute at Switzerland’s oldest university, the University of Basel. With an established study program on the MA level and a planned doctoral program, the Institute focuses on European Global Studies and develops concepts and methods to reveal the close interconnectedness between Europe, Asia and Africa across cultural, geographic, and linguistic borders and the consequences of such entanglements on the global and the local level. We are looking for scholars based in law, economics or social sciences with a strong record in interdisciplinary research connected to European Global Studies. See more information on career opportunities here.

Application deadline: January 15, 2014

Education and Business Resources

Teachers: It's not too late to register a team for Euro Challenge 2014

You are invited to participate in the Euro Challenge 2014, an exciting educational opportunity for 9th- and 10th-grade high school students to learn about the European Union (EU) and its single currency, the euro. The program introduces students of global studies, world history or European studies economics and offers a unique learning experience that moves them out of the classroom into the real world. The competition is also an excellent opportunity for teachers, as teachers enlisting a team in the regional Euro Challenge are eligible to be awarded a free trip to Brussels next summer. Help your students experience the history that is unfolding before our eyes in the euro area!

To help students and educators prepare, free orientations at UNC-Chapel Hill, webinars and news flashes are also provided during the year. The North Carolina European Union Center of Excellence is proud to offer an online Euro Economics "textbook" intended as an introduction to economics for teachers and students in high school grades and up. Register online today for the Euro Challenge competition! For more information about the competition in the North Carolina/Southeast region, email Alexandra Holmgren or call 919-843-9852.

New EU business briefs shed light on the latest EU developments

The EU in Brief is a series of concise informational documents about the European Union targeting businesses and media in North Carolina and across the United States. The briefs examine the economic and foreign policy relationship between the US and the EU as well domestic issues affecting contemporary Europe. Ten briefs were recently published online. Feel free to download them and share.

The US Department of State's Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad (YES Abroad) program, provides competitive merit-based scholarships for U.S. secondary school students (age 15-18) to study for one academic year in select countries. The US. Department of State also provides scholarships for secondary school students (age 15-17) from countries with significant Muslim populations to study for one academic year in the United States through the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program. Learn more about YES Abroad and access the YES Abroad 2014-15 program application.

Application deadline: January 9, 2014

CES Resource Highlights

'The idea that political problems can be solved through violent means has not been delegitimized in much of the former Yugoslavia. When people look at the past they don't see it as a mistake of judgment but of implementation.'

Jelena Subotic of Georgia State University, in her Nov. 2013 CES panel with Dusan Jovanovic of OSCE

Subscribe to the CES video channel on YouTube to be notified of new videos

The channel is the home to original resources for students and the greater public too. You will find lectures from our Fall Friday series and by our esteemed visiting scholars and interviews with thought leaders. Enjoy our growing library of topics on contemporary Europe. Help us grow our family of subscribers!

Click here for a virtual binder of resources on integrating European content into K-12 curriculum, while aligning to NC Essential and Common Core standards

Other International Events and Resources

An acclaimed photo series by Evgenia Arbugaeva: images from Tiksi, a remote port town on Siberia's Arctic coast. Sponsored through a joint program of the Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund and Duke's Center for International Studies, the goal of which is to connect international artists with the university community to explore social issues through the medium of photography. Born in 1985, Arbugaeva grew up in Tiksi with its coastal tundra, the aurora borealis, windy snowstorms, and endless days and nights. When the Soviet Union collapsed, her family, like many others, left. She was eight at the time, and carried with her feelings and images of a magical realm of wonder and discovery. She returned to Tiksi as a young adult to "make sure the place really existed."